Key case



0t.29, 1940. B 'WLLER 2,219,561

KEY CASEl Filed Dec. 24. 1938 ZISheets-Snee1 1 INVENTOR. E13 Mumie.

A. TTORNEYJ L. B. MILLER Oct. 29, 1940.

KEY CASE Filed Dec. 24, 1938 2 Sheets-Sham. 2

D NORM,

li! INVENTOR. EE 5. /V/ALEQ w/ M/M ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 29, 1940 y UNITEDA STATES l vPlirislvr' l. OFFICE' KEY CASE Lee B. Miller, West Bend, Wis., assigner to Enger- Kress Company, West Bend, Wis., a corporav tion of Wisconsinl Application December 24, I1938, Serial No. 247,653

A still further object of my invention is to provide a small accessory key container so constructed mechanically as to be receivable upon and engageable with a pocket or a margin of a pocket of a bill-fold, a similar container, a garment pocket, o-r the like. k

A still further object of my invention is to pro- Vide an accessory key container in which the cost of'manufacture is held at a minimum by devising the parts thereof so that a minimum of sewing will be required to construct and assemble the various parts. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pocket container in which my key container is incorporated as an integral part thereof.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing my invention as disclosed in` Fig. 1 with a portion of the front piece broken away to disclose the back piece and the flap folded back to show the method of insertion and removal of the keys.

Fig. 3 is a section along line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of my accessory key container with the flap partially folded back. Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of an accessory key container showing an alternate embodiment of my invention.

- Fig. 6 is a plan view of a conventional type bill-fold showing my accessory key container secured in place upon a pocket thereof.

Fig. 7 is a section along line 'I-I of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 isa cross sectional view of the accessory container shown in Fig. 5 taken along line 8-8 of Fig. 5. v

Like parts are designated by the same reference characters throughout the several views.

Figs. 1 and 2 show a conventional type billfold 9 in open' position, in which a zipper opening to the bill compartment is shown at 20, and identification card pocket is shown at 2| with a transparent window 22. My device may be located opposite the identification card pocket and may form the outer wall of an additional pocket .heads substantially to the kerfs. ving three sides of the front and back pieces are of a bill-fold or similar container.

or may be fastened directly to the bill-fold front piece 23. f

As best shown in Figs. 1 and 2, my device is comprised of three major pieces, namely: ay

'back piece Ill, which may be an integral exten- 5 sion of piece 23, a front piece II, and a flap I2.

The front piece II and flap I2 are made of suitable leather or leather-like material having a degree of stiffness but adapted tol provide the iiexibilty required in the mechanics of use of the 10 complete article. The back I0 vmay be of leather if it is an extension of piece 23, or may be of relatively heavy fabric when it forms the inner wall of a pocket directly under the key container thereby cutting the cost of construction, as in l5 that case @the back piece I0 would not be visible.

It will be noted that ap I2 is not an integral 1 marginal fold-over of either front II or back I0 but is a-separate piece placed marginally coincident to edge I5 of front I I and sewed along the 20 margin thereof of back I0, as shown by dotted line I4. Front piece II is provided with kerfs I6 and I6 as shown in Fig. 2, and it is seen that when keys I1 and I1' are inserted therein while iiap I2 is bent back, the key heads are wedged 25 against front II and ap I2 is allowed to return to normal.

Due to the key heads being in close proximity to the sewed margin I5, with the result that flap I2 is distorted from its normal flat position ad- 30 jacent front piece I I into a V-shaped position, as shown at I9 in Fig. 3, the resistance of flap I2 to this distortion results in the biasing of the key heads against front II and towards kerfs IB and I6. work loose, but a user need only lift flap I2 tov provide for easy withdrawal of the keys.

Flap I2 may be somewhat narrower than the bill-fold or container in which my invention is an integral part, and it extends over the key 40 The remainmarginally sewed.

Fig. 4 shows a further embodiment of my invention in the form of an accessory key con- 45 tainer designed to be receivable upon and engageable with a pocket or a margin of a pocket This embodiment incorporates many features vof the heretofore described integral key container, but 50 front piece III and back piece III! form nopartl of a second container, but Ainstead are marginally sewed to complete a separate key container. This container is sufficiently small to be received upon a pocket flap 25 of a bill-fold 3| as shown 55 In this position the keys cannot possibly 35 in Fig. 6. Flap H2 now performs the double function of securing the keys in place by distortional stress as it forms a V-shape over the key heads as described and also serving as a Wedge to secure the device to the margin of the pocket in which it is inserted as best shown in the sectional view, Fig. 7.

A further embodiment of my invention is disclosed in Figs. 5 and 8. This container is comprised of back piece ZID and ap 2l2, marginally sewed at 2M, both of which may be identical with the corresponding parts as disclosed in Fig. 4;

and a front piece 2| I, the lateral dimensions of which may be less than those of front piece lI H in the embodiment shown by Fig. 4. p The back piece 2|0 now comprises the frame work upon which the other two pieces are secured. The front piece 2H is sewed to the back 210 byv a single line of sewing 26, commencing at 21, and.

Fig. 5, for the reception of keys, one of which is shown in position at 3|. This method of forming the pockets 29 and 30 by continuous sewing is of importance to a manufacturer because of the rapidity of which this operation may be accomplished without removing the device from the sewing machine.

I claim:

A key containing device comprised of a back piece, a front piece co-extensive therewith and secured thereto, at least one kerf provided in the front piece, said kerf in spaced relation to "the top margin thereof and of sufficient size to permit the insertion therein of the serrated end of a key, and a separate flap seamed co-extensivelyalong the top of the front piece and to the back, and extending substantially to the kerf whereby said flap is distorted in V-shape over the head of the inserted key with a resultant distortional stress of the flap material biasing the key Yhead against the front piece and toward the kerf.

LEE B. MILLER. 

